Today, the World Plays Pac-Man … or, Google Introduces Its First Interactive Doodle

May 21, 2010

Tomorrow is Pac-Man’s 30th birthday — seems like just yesterday he was a wee yellow incomplete circle! In honor of the game finally reaching maturity and Pac-Man getting a real job and being able to afford a place of his own, Google has unveiled the first interactive doodle on their homepage.

This means — joy of joys — you can play Pac-Man for the next 48 hours without having to pay a dime or break out the Atari. We suggest it for its soothing benefits (especially that siren-esque sound effect). Go to google.com and the game starts within 10 seconds, or click “insert coin” (no actual coin necessary) for it to begin immediately. If you actually want to Google something, type fast.

This is way better than watching porn and almost makes up for Google wanting to own us all. Seriously, how many people are playing right now? Let us know what you think: tweet to @YourUnemployedD.

Weekend cocktail party tidbit: In Japan the game was initially called “Puck Man,” but the name was rejected in the U.S. because the “P” tended to chip and look like an “F.”